Child reported missing in Brooklyn found with the help of Chopper 2

NEW YORK - A child who had been reported missing in Brooklyn Thursday has been found, with the help of CBS New York's Chopper 2 .

The NYPD said a 9-year-old boy went missing at around 7 a.m. after heading off to school from his Midwood apartment building. His parents called police after the boy didn't arrive at the school.

Police provided a description of the child, who was wearing a distinctive orange tie.

"A first for us"

CBS News New York sent Chopper 2 to the area to check things out, and our own Dan Rice spotted a child fitting the description on the rooftop of the family's building.

"As my pilot Eric Ross and I were circling around the building, we came across a person sitting in a chair over here on the rooftop. We zoomed in with the camera - it appeared to be the child that fit the description of the missing child ... I looked down at my notes. I see what the assignment desk had sent me, and I see what the child was wearing. I look back at the child, and that child was wearing everything that's in the description. He looked to be about 9 years old," Rice said.

CBS News New York called the NYPD, and Chopper 2 waited overhead until they arrived.

"He just packs up his computer and his book bag and goes off with the police officers. They look back at our helicopter gave us a big thumbs up and took child down to his parents," Rice said.

A neighbor told CBS News New York's Hannah Kliger he had been on the roof Thursday morning and saw the child, but didn't think anything of it until he heard what happened.

"I went up there with my wife to have a cup of coffee. It was about 8 o'clock. There's a swinging bench up there, sort of. The kid was sitting on the bench playing on his iPad," the neighbor said. "I thought his parents gave him permission to go up there. I didn't even think, 'Why would the kid be up there?' It's a community place."

"This is the first time we've seen something like this happen," Rice said.

Neighbors said they're relieved to hear the child is OK, as is Rice.

"To be able to find that child for the parents down in that building, it was a really gratifying experience," he said.

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